Trump Asked for a 30-Foot Washington Statue. He Doesn't Run the Smithsonian.

He also wants an exhibit for Washington's 300th birthday and a "Center for American Heroes" at the history museum.

President Donald Trump asked the Smithsonian to install two George Washington statues at its history museum in Washington, D.C., one of them 30 feet tall. The requests came in late-night posts on Truth Social on Friday, September 11, 2026, the Associated Press reported.

He doesn't run the place. The Smithsonian Institution operates outside the executive branch, and a Board of Regents oversees its leadership. Its members include Vice President JD Vance and Chief Justice John Roberts, along with lawmakers from both parties and a group of citizens. Whether Trump can compel any of this is an open question.

He has been pressing anyway. In March, he signed an executive order targeting Smithsonian funding for programs the order described as advancing "divisive narratives" and "improper ideology," the AP reported. A White House report published this year returned again and again to the charge that the institution had done too little with Washington and the other founders. In July, he had his administration post signs outside the history museum telling visitors that some exhibits are inaccurate.

The new requests are specific. The 30-foot Washington would displace "Infinity," an abstract sculpture by the New York artist Jose de Rivera that the federal government commissioned and that has stood at the National Museum of American History since 1967. An 11-foot Washington — the one displayed at the Freedom 250 IndyCar race — would go in the museum's Flag Hall for Constitution Day, September 17.

He also asked for a special exhibit honoring the first president, starting now and running to February 22, 2032, the 300th anniversary of Washington's birth. And he wanted the museum's recently ended Center for Restorative History — an initiative built around stories left out of the standard national account — replaced by a "Center for American Heroes."

"He is easily America's Greatest Hero. Without him, our Country and our Freedoms wouldn't exist," Trump wrote while flying to his Irish golf course, according to the AP. He complained that the museum doesn't mention Washington's crossing of the Delaware River during the Revolutionary War.

The requests land on an institution about to change hands. Lonnie Bunch, the Smithsonian's top leader, said the same week that he'll step down when the year ends.

Source: pbs.org, retrieved September 13, 2026.